Lesson Five

Introduction:

This lesson is the second part of our focus on grammar. Here, we will analyze the past tenses in Spanish and English and ways that differences in their use can pose challenges in translation. We’ll examine in detail how to translate both the preterite and imperfect tenses from Spanish to English, which can be more complex than simply using the past simple tense. Finally, we’ll turn our attention to some ways that  prepositions are used differently in Spanish and English and consider how best to translate them. Once again, our purpose in studying grammar is to improve the readability of our translations so that they sound as naturally expressed as possible in the target language.

Objectives:

After completing this lesson you will:

• Identify ways that the use of the past tenses differs between English and Spanish.
• Be able to successfully translate verbs in the past tenses in a Spanish source text into the correct verb tense in an English translation.
• Become aware of key differences in the usage of common prepositions in Spanish and English and improve your translation of prepositions.

Key Topics:

5.1) Translating the past tenses

a) Translating the Preterite
       i) Forms and uses of the preterite
       ii) Verbs that change meaning in the preterite
  b) Translating the Imperfect tense

5.2) Prepositions

a) Differences in verbs used with prepositions in English and Spanish
b) Translating por & para